The Girl and the Little Rabbit

            There was once a little girl who liked to play in the wilderness alongside her home. There, the flowers grew sweetly and the trees swayed to and fro, softy. Such wilderness was full of noises and chirps and rustling leaves. But none would disturb her, especially while she was at play. For she had an imagination which was very great and very vivid. Often, she did not hear the sounds which came from the woods at all when her mind became very dreamy.
            The girl was the only child of her two parents. Both her mother and her father had longer for another, but it was not so. The father in particular wished for a son who he could teach to work the land. For he was very strong and was a skilled hunter. This was quite a tragic thing for the family, but most of all to the little girl who greatly wished to have someone who she could play with. For she was a very lonely child and found herself alone quite often .
            One day, which she thought to be a day like any other, she heard a call and a whimper and the sound startled her for she had never heard any sound like that before. Again she heard the noise and she looked to where the noise had come from and turned towards it. . From underneath the wooden fence which encompassed the family house was a little honey-colored rabbit. She could see that the rabbit had trapped itself in between the fence and the earth floor. He kicked his hind legs feverishly and struggled to free himself.               The rabbit was unlike any other rabbit which she had seen before. He was very tiny but also very beautiful and she looked upon the rabbit for a moment. His coat was in a pattern she had not recognized, for he had a single a white spot atop his chest.
            She went to the fence to where the rabbit was and moved the wooden plank which he was under very carefully to aid the rabbit. The rabbit then crawled out from under the wood and left to return to the forest. However, before he had made his way he stopped and looked back at her and she at him. She could see how lovely his shiny eyes were and how little his nose was and she felt that the rabbit looked as if he was somehow very thoughtful. The rabbit then made his way to the woods where he had come from. How sweet that little rabbit was and how thoughtful, the girl thought to herself. She then began to carry on playing. For she was very little still and could not think of anything for very long.
            The next day she stepped out from the yard to play in the woods. She had forgotten she had seen and rabbit and had brought with her a wooden sword. For today she had imagined that she was a pirate and had slashed the trucks of trucks and stones very fiercely as she made her way through the forest.
            In the woods, she again saw the rabbit and she knew for certain that it was him because she could see the little white dot on his chest and the sweet honey colored fur from before. When he had seen her he froze in his place with fright for at that moment she had thrust her sword at the hollow of a tree very loudly. And so the girl quieted herself for a moment to see what the rabbit would do. When she had become still, he simply carried on and sniffed the ground with his little nose to look for twine and other little leaves which he could eat. "You must be hungry", she said out loud to the rabbit and she reached into the pockets of her overcoat and gave to him a slice of apple which her mother had fed to her in the morning of that day. And the rabbit crept forward and took a tiny nibble at the apple to try it. The apple was sweeter than any piece of fruit he had ever tasted before. Much sweeter than the berries which grew wild which were often tart and made him shutter with their bitterness. The girl saw that he ate more and more and had known that he liked the sweet apple.
            The next day she brought to him more of the sweet apple and he let her fed it to him from her hand for he remembered that she had treated him gently and very soon the pair grew fond of each other. And when the girl came to visit him he knew it was her because of her soft tread and he would come to greet her.
          She soon learned that the rabbit had no family or kit of his own for she had known the woods very well and had seen no rabbits like him before. No other rabbits dwelled among him. Perhaps he had become lost. For they only dwelled amongst each other. She imagined that he must have come from far away, perhaps from another forest, she had never been to before. He was always very hungry when she had come to him perhaps he had come looking for food. Perhaps he could find none where he was from. She knew then that he must have been very clever to have come so far.
          Time passed and the girl continued to visit the rabbit and always the rabbit would come to greet her. The rabbit then had grown strong and she knew that he was a baby no longer for the little white dot above his chest had vanished. And she saw that his coat was shinier than it ever was and that his eyes were bright and he looked more beautiful to him than he ever had. Still, she found that she very much loved the rabbit perhaps more than she had before.
The season had changed and one day she was unable to bring the rabbit any food for she had found none along the way and had little to spare at home. She said out loud to him, " I am sorry little rabbit. I have brought you no food today". He saw that she had no leaves for him to chew or sweet fruit for him to eat but he favored her companionship still, and he let her nicely pat the top of his head and pet the soft fur on his back. And the girl said to him "You are the most lovely and clever rabbit I have ever known. I love you very much and I am glad that you are my friend." And the rabbit purred as if he had known what she had said and as if he had agreed.
As the wind grew colder she ventured back home but she looked behind her once more and saw the little rabbit looking back at her from where he was and the thought came to her that she should take the rabbit away with her. There was a chill in the air and she knew that a storm would come to pass. However, she knew that would not be allowed; her mother hated any small pests and allowed no wild animals in the house. Even though she was afraid to let the rabbit, she was more afraid of her mother and so she carried on back home, for nothing could be done.
            As the girl had predicted, the night which came to pass was colder than any other before it. The howl of the wind seemed to be everlasting. So cold was the night that the little girl's parents allowed her to sleep in their bed that night. As she began to fall asleep that night she thought of the rabbit and wondered whether he had a warm place to stay that night as she did. When she awoke the next morning she found that her father had already awakened and had gone from the home.Only her mother had laid resting beside her, this was the usual way of the morning. The little girl then arose from her bed and sought her overcoat so that she may leave for the forest to find the rabbit.
           She walked down the stream of water which ran throughout the woods and when she came to the end of it she approached the dwelling place of the rabbit as she had on many instances prior. The rabbit liked this place along the creek so that he could drink from the flowing water very easily. Only this time she could not see the rabbit and he had not come out to greet her. She looked beneath the nearby foliage and around the great tree trunks but still she could not see him and so she ventured deeper into the woods and went to look for the rabbit. The woods felt as if they had fallen silent without the presence of the rabbit and a great sense of fear had been cast upon the little girl. She began to call out for the rabbit. "Little Rabbit" she called "Come out", but the rabbit did not make his presence known to her and she looked and looked until she had come into a circle and found that there was nowhere in the woods where she had not looked already. But still, she searched and searched although she was greatly tired and her little feet felt quite sore all the while calling out for the rabbit.
          Soon the edges of the earth fell crimson and lavender and she knew that she must soon go home as the sun would soon set. If she did not go home now she would arrive when it was very late and dark in the night. If she were to return in the night her mother was sure to become angry and the little girl was a good natured child and did not wish to anger her mother. With no other choice, she began the journey home. A feeling of great sorrow had fallen upon the girl for she had not found the rabbit. All the way home the girl was sad and her heart heavy. She became very somber and serious and she felt that it took a great effort to make the journey home.
Before nightfall, she had arrived home where she was greated by her mother. Her mother picked her up and felt how cold she was and she carried her in her arms to the fireplace where cedar wood was burning. The girl felt very tired after traveling such a long distance and rested her head on her mother's shoulder and fell asleep. When she awoke she saw that her father had entered the house. He was a keen hunter. Tied over his overcoat he brought back with him a great score of game. From this score, she saw that there were many wild birds he had caught. Birds which grew plentifully in the region the family lived. He had also caught a duck, a fox and tied with a string by the foot was one honey-colored rabbit. She recognized the pattern of his fur very easily, for it was unlike any other. He was very easy for her father to kill. For the rabbit knew nothing of humans but the girl and did not know to fear them. He also had very light fur and her father could see him from a great distance. She found she could not speak, rather warm tears fell across her cheeks and she hid her face in her mother's arms. She then went to a quiet place in the house and sobbed greatly. If only she had gone back for the rabbit. How little consequence her mother's anger would have been how silly she was to fear it. She wept and wept until she grew tired and fell asleep.
            The next morning she awoke and the sadness she felt the night before had lingered still. She found her mother awake in another room and she went to go see her. It was then that the mother told the girl that she was to help her knit a blanket. The girl was very good at knitting and agreed to do so. She sat alongside her mother who said to her "You are to have a sibling. She will be a little girl like you so you will have to help me make her a little bonnet and a dress to wear." As she began to cast the wool around the wooden needles, although missed the rabbit, she felt that somehow her sadness had lessened and that she was happy.